The End of Summer
by I-Heart-Hatake-Kakashi
Summary: Team Gai never did anything the easy way. It just wasn't in their nature... Part one of a COLLAB with Rikku9314; Prompts - Watermelon, Sunblock, BBQ, Fireflies
1. Watermelon

Naruto © Kishimoto

A/N : I'm having the hardest time kicking myself out of this writers block, but I promised this story over a month ago so here goes...

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><p><strong>- WATERMELON -<strong>

**by: I-Heart-Hatake-Kakashi**

Team Gai never did anything the easy way. It just wasn't in their nature.

Easy wasn't a challenge. And to the students of Maito Gai, who took after their sensei considerably (despite the reluctance of a certain two who refused to acknowledge that fact), life was all about the daily challenges. Everything had a potential for being a challenge to overcome, a battle to fight, a unique form of training, some manner in which one could push themselves to be better, faster, smarter, stronger...

If it was easy, then they weren't doing it right.

So it stood to reason that when asked to bring watermelons for Team Kakashi's big end of summer celebration, instead of going to the supermarket to buy some, like most people would have done, Tenten, Neji, Lee and Gai decided they would go out to the small farming plots on the outskirts of the village to personally pick their own fresh watermelon. Oh but it didn't end there...

"Yosh! Gai-sensei! We should each carry two watermelons for the festivities!" the bowl-haired boy loudly bellowed, not realizing his beloved sensei was nowhere to be found. And as he spoke, the spandex-clad young man picked up what appeared to be the largest watermelon in the field. It was about the size of a full grown teen, the shape somewhat resembling a younger Chouji during their chunin years, both in height as well as girth. "eeh, like this..." the nineteen-year-old boy grunted as he picked up the oversized melon. Turning from side to side, swinging the enormous fruit over his head with some difficulty, as he searched around for his former teacher to show the older man the one he had chosen.

"Lee, put that down," Tenten scolded, rolling her eyes as she watched the boy struggle with the large fruit. It wasn't so much that the watermelon itself was too heavy for the bowl-headed boy to carry, actually Tenten had seen Lee carry many times his weight in the past. The problem, however, was that the watermelon in question was still tangled up in the vine that connected it to all the other watermelons on the farm, most of which were of comparable size and weight. So while he was only carrying the one watermelon in his arms, in fact Lee was also pulling at the weight of all the other melons attached to it. "You're going to hurt yourself if you strain too much," the bun-haired girl warned her overeager best friend.

But the boy didn't seem to hear her, as he unknowingly continued to pull at the vines, trying to turn in order to face his sensei, whom he was certain was standing behind him.

"He's not there," the white eyed prodigy, who had just finished picking out the perfect ten-pound watermelon from a nearby neighboring farming plot, said as he walked over to them. How he knew it was perfect had nothing to do with the fact that the green skin was smooth and bright, there wasn't an inch of yellow on it, indicating that it had received the correct amount of sun on all sides. No, what made it perfect was the juicy bright red fleshy center that only the Byakugan eye could allow a person to see without cutting into the thick rind.

"He is not?" Lee dolefully questioned, his lower lip quivering at the sudden knowledge of his idol's disappearance. It wasn't long before tears were brimming in his eyes, and soon after spilling like waterfalls off his determined-looking face. "Oh Gai-sensei! He must be searching for the perfect watermelon within these vast fields. I am certain he will find one as big as a house!"

The young kunoichi standing besides him just about fell face first into the muddy ground at her younger teammate's declaration. How he always seemed to turn anything that had to do with Gai into some heroic adventure never ceased to amaze the girl. "Lee," she groaned, half-heartedly glaring at her bowl-haired teammate. "He probably just got lost in these farms," Tenten mumbled, not entirely kidding as she could easily imagine Gai losing himself out in unfamiliar locations. That was partly why during their genin and chunin days it had always been Neji's job on missions to track where they were going. Of course he and Tenten always lied and said it was because of his Byakugan, to spare their sensei the embarrassment of being known as a directionless oaf.

"Lee," the stoic white-eyed teen walked up besides his sparring partner. "A large watermelon may seem impressive, but it will likely have begun to dry up inside and will not be as tasteful as something that would be less cumbersome to carry," the Hyuga added. His eyes were fixed on Lee's fruit; Byakugan active, evident by the pulsating veins on the side of the handsome young man's temples. It was clear he was suggesting that Lee's watermelon was not up to par, and it would be best that he give up on that particular piece of fruit. But of course, the taijutsu specialist was not the type who ever gave up. And despite his cheerful and always eager to please nature, Lee was a rather stubborn boy.

For some reason, unknown to his two teammates, the bushy-browed boy had long since developed a belief that bigger was better. "We shall see, my eternal rival!" Lee exclaimed as he took a 'good-guy' pose, proclaiming to his teammates, and the world (or at least as far as his big booming voice could carry), that he accepted Neji's challenge to see who could pick the better watermelon; despite the fact that the Hyuga neither desired nor set forth any such challenge.

Ignoring the two men, as one glared menacingly and the other beamed blindly with his huge toothy grin, Tenten turned and quickly surveyed the area. There was very little else other than what appeared to be acres and acres of farm land as far as the eye could see. The land itself was community property, belonging to the Hokage as village leader, but it was all sectioned off and divided amongst any villager who cared to plant and harvest whatever they chose to farm. There were different sections that belonged to specific types of plants, like the medicinal herbs, which were planted closer to the hospital.

The particular field they were standing in was where most of the village planted it's vegetables. Fruits, most of which grew on trees, were generally planted more southwesterly, but since watermelons, like grapes, grew on vines, they were placed along side of the tomatoes and other berry-like plants. Visibility was, thus, well enough that Tenten could see for miles. The one thing she didn't see, however, was Gai.

"Where could he have run off to?" the bun-haired girl wondered as she scanned around for any sign of her former sensei, trying to remember if he'd even arrived there with the rest of the team.

The only place she could imagine Gai to be hiding was within the 2500-square foot farming plot they were currently on. The reason for this, was that it was the only plot that happened to have oversized watermelons. And by 'oversized', it wasn't that they were two or even three times bigger than the average watermelon; no, these watermelons were quite literally the size of person. They had stood out so much over the acres of farm land, that it was hard not to spot them. How anyone could grow watermelons this size, or what kind of lunatic would even want to, was beyond Tenten.

"Oh no," the bun-haired girl groaned, as she walked over to the small plaque at the edge of the farming plot.

"What is it?" Neji asked, following the kunoichi with he is eyes, ignoring the still shouting Lee as he continued to profess the four winds that would at long last defeat his eternal rival and prove to his former sensei how far he had come in his training.

"I think I know who owns this plot..." Tenten wearily replied as she tilted her head over the side of the plaque to confirm her suspicions, blocking the glare of the sun's rays over the metal sheet with one of her gloved hands. After reading and rereading the metal carvings to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, the weapons mistress let out a deep and exasperated sigh, as she turned back to face her white-eyed companion. She gave him a meek smile that the young man was all too familiar with, having seen it on the girl's face ever since their genin days. "And somehow he _still_ got lost on his way here..."

**- FIN (sort of...) -**

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><p><strong>AN** : It took me almost the entire day to finish it... I'd say on and off for about 10 hours (more off than on since I kept hitting the wall... figurative of course). I'd like to thank Billy (cos you were ;p it was Friday) for helping me tear down the wall (even if it did keep building itself back up).

Oh! and the "sort of" part... well this is technically a oneshot but it's also a collab, do it's going to be a 4-chapter story. I'm writing chapters 1 and 4, and my good friend Stephanie ( aka Rikku9314 ) is writing chapters 2 and 3... and each of us is drawing fanart for the other's fanfictions.

So yeah. Sorry Steph that this took so incredibly long! But It's up and I'm pretty happy with it... then again at 2am I think I'd be happy with anything (no not true ;p).


	2. Don't forget the Sunblock

**A/N (From ME!) - This, and the next chapter, were not written by me. Only chapter 1 and Chapter 4. Chapter 2 and 3 are written by my good friend RIKKU9314. **Please leave her comments!** We're collaborating. My final chapter will be up soon. **

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><p><strong>Don't Forget the Sunblock<strong>

**by ~Rikku9314**

"I told you to put sun block on, but would you listen?" Tenten sighed exasperatedly as she poured some more oil on her hands.

"Hn," Neji replied, cringing slightly as Tenten placed her hands on his back, rubbing the aloe over his very red shoulders.

"You Hyugas think you're just so invincible that you forget the basics," she said, rolling her eyes slightly as she closed the bottle and stood up, stretching her arms up over her head. She turned behind her and handed her teammate his shirt, smirking slightly as he winced when he put it on.

"I on the other hand put on SPF of 50 and look at my nice wonderful tan!" She held out her copper arms, admiring them and grinning as she held them up for her sunburned companion to see. He glared at her slightly.

"Okay Tenten, point proven, next time we carry watermelons for 3 hours I'll remember to put on sun screen." He stood up off the bench they had been sitting on and he and Tenten began walking in the direction of the park where the rest of their friends were busy decorating for the party that night.

"Well that and at least wear a shirt or something," Tenten laughed as she walked beside him. She sighed and looked up. It was a perfect last day of summer; not a cloud in the sky, not a breath of wind and easily 25 degrees above. Tomorrow would be the first day of fall and she was sure that nature would take advantage of that fact and the weather would instantly cool and cloud over.

The loud booming voice of their teammate reached the couple's ears minutes before they saw his signature green jump suit bouncing around the area that Team Kakashi had taken over in the park for their BBQ. Ino and Sakura were hanging up multi-colored Chinese lanterns between trees while Hinata placed candles inside them, ready to be lit for when the sun set. Chouji was standing at the BBQ, but who had set him to the task of preparing the meat was beyond Tenten as he kept glancing around before surreptitiously placing a few pieces in his mouth. A few feet away Sai sat a table, looking up occasionally from the scroll that was spread out before him and then drawing his brush across the parchment. Kiba chuckled next to Shino as Lee, Naruto and Akamaru ran around in circles chasing each other. A few meters away, Shikamaru shot the loud group an annoyed look and returned to his cloud gazing.

As Neji and Tenten approached the group Lee broke off from the romping and dashed over to his two teammates.

"There you are my youthful companions! You are tardy, and the watermelons have yet to be cut!" he bellowed at them, gesturing at the pile of watermelon the team had picked, including the one Lee has chosen that was half his height. Tenten put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"Well if the watermelon needs to be cut so badly why don't YOU do it, Lee?" she accused as she heaved a watermelon over to the long table that Sai was sitting at. She grabbed the nearby knife that Sakura had brought and began slicing the watermelon into perfect triangular slices, her deft weapons hands doing what they did best.

"Because, oh flower of our team, I did not want you to miss out on the chance to train!" he screamed before running back to the hyperactive blonde boy and ninja dog. Tenten rolled her eyes at them as she went back to grab another watermelon.

"Cause you know, cutting watermelon is just so strenuous…" she said under her breath.

"Apparently it is, Tenten," said Sakura as she walked towards her friend, the lanterns all hung. "Why else would Neji just stand there and not help you?" Tenten looked up from the watermelon to see Neji shifting uncomfortably and adjusting his shirt. She grinned at him shrewdly as he gave her a look that clearly said "don't you dare".

"Oh, well that's just because Neji has a rash," she said, smiling, as she cut into the soft innards of the melon, juices pooling onto the table.

"It is NOT a rash," Neji replied, glaring at her as their friends all snickered around him. He held his chin up and went to grab the watermelon Lee had picked out, but not without making a face that plainly showed he was in pain.

"Suuure, it's not…," Sakura said, walking over to help Hinata mix the punch.

Neji shot Tenten an evil look as he too began to help cut the watermelon with the weapons mistress who was obviously enjoying herself, if only a little too much.

"It is actually, and it's highly contagious as well, just ask Tenten," he said coolly, smirking to himself as Tenten looked up, horrified. Then she narrowed her eyes and leaned over and whispered to him softly so that no one else could hear.

"Next time you'd better listen to me," she said. "Hey Lee! Come over here! Don't you think Neji is doing such a YOUTHFUL job of cutting up this watermelon?" Lee enthusiastically ran over to examine his friend's handiwork.

"Oh yes, Tenten! It is simply beautiful and so youthful!" Lee said, giving his teammate the thumbs up sign.

"I thought so too. Don't you think he deserves a pat on the back?" She smiled sweetly at Neji as his eyes widened in sudden fear.

"But of course!" And with that Lee slapped Neji on the back and ran back to join the frolicking once more.

Neji stood straight as a board in silence, tears welling in his eyes, as Tenten hummed happily to herself.


	3. The Barbeque

****A/N (From ME!) - This, and the previous chapter, were not written by me. Only chapter 1 and Chapter 4. Chapter 2 and 3 are written by my good friend RIKKU9314. ****Please leave her comments! ****We're collaborating. My final chapter will be up soon.****

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><p><strong>The Barbeque<strong>

**by ~Rikku9314**

The sun was just beginning to lower as Tenten sat on the branch of a tree, her legs swinging as she stared down at the small clearing beneath her. The brightness of the afternoon turned dull as the day began to end, the festivities of her eleven friends coming to a close. The boisterous laughing of the boys and the giggling of the girls filled the otherwise silent air and she smiled, thankful that for now, all was peaceful.

She turned, adjusted herself so that her back was leaning against the trunk of the tree, brought her legs up to her chest, and, resting her chin on her knees, sighed contentedly. This was what she loved most about her world, a world that was so often full of war and blood and death. The laughter and the smiles and the time spent with her teammates, her comrades, her friends, acted as a salve that healed wounds that festered after she was forced to witness the carnage that her job entailed. She knew that without them she would have lost a part of herself years ago. She smiled, remembering the events of the barbeque.

_"I told you I wanted my meat rare Chouji, what is this tough, cooked stuff?" complained Kiba, being supported by a bark from Akamaru who was thoroughly enjoying his steak despite its less than tender quality._

"And I told you, it's not my fault, Naruto did the cooking on this one!" the plump shinobi yelled back, waving his arms as he tried to defend his cooking skills.

"That's how Ichiraku ALWAYS cooks his meat! Right, Lee?" countered Naruto.

"YOSH!"

The four boys continued to yell at each other much to the annoyance of Neji, Shino, Sai and Shikamaru who moved their chairs farther away in a vain attempt to get away from the noise. At the far end of the table the four kunoichi of the group of friends sat talking together, enjoying their drinks and dessert.

"Good grief…it'll be Thanksgiving before they're done arguing…" Ino muttered under her breath before taking a strawberry from the bowl in front of her and popping it into her mouth. Tenten giggled and nodded her agreement. The boys could sure get awfully loud when they got into it. She only wondered how long it would take before one of them started a fist fight. She glanced up the table and caught Neji's eye, laughing as he sent her a "help me" look. She shook her head and took a bite of her pie.

"Honestly you guys…our teams just aren't normal," Sakura said, watching as the

_argument over cooked meat got more and more heated. "Sai and Naruto act like perverts half the time we're on missions…I don't think Sai can help it since he's sort of socially challenged and Naruto…well who can blame him between Jiraiya and Kakashi-sensei."_

"All guys are perverts." Ino tossed her long hair back over her shoulder and set her chin on her hand. "Shikamaru just sits around all day and Chouji…well let's just say he says some pretty weird things when he gets hungry."

"Umm…isn't he always hungry?" Hinata asked shyly. The girls all laughed and Ino nodded, agreeing. "Shino and Kiba are pretty normal although…." She blushed. "Kiba does sometimes act a little more like Akamaru than a human especially when it comes to…umm…bathing".

"Ewwww…." they chorused.

"What about you Tenten? Don't you have your hands full with Lee?" Sakura asked.

Tenten managed a choked out laugh before answering. "Do you really need to ask? Between him and Guy I don't know what to do with myself!" she said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I bet Neji knows what to do with you…" crooned Ino, winking at her. A fierce blush colored Tenten's cheeks and she looked away, stopping short once she realized she had looked towards said Hyuga.

"Yeah, isn't there anything going on between you two yet?" said Sakura, cocking her head as she followed Tenten's gaze.

Before Tenten could respond a fierce bellow erupted from the other end of the table as Kiba threw his overcooked steak at Naruto's face. That was all it took for the rest of the boys to start yelling and throwing food, the girls screaming as potato salad, corn on the cob and watermelon went flying through the air towards them.

Tenten had frankly been glad that the conversation had ended there as she was not entirely sure what she would have said in response to Sakura's question. While Tenten herself had feelings for her teammate, she would never take the risk in admitting them to the stoic Byakugan user for fear of rejection.

The thought weighed heavily on her as the sun slowly crept towards the horizon bathing the village and the surrounding area in an orange hue, the glow of the lanterns becoming prominent. Tenten glanced up at the Hokage mountain, timeless faces etched in stone forever keeping watch over the village when she noticed that the noise beneath her had quieted.

Jumping down from her perch she joined the group, and surrounded by friends, she began to pack up for the night.


	4. Fireflies

Naruto © Kishimoto

A/N : I'm having the hardest time kicking myself out of this writers block, but I promised this story over a month ago so here goes...

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><p><strong>- FIREFLIES -<strong>

**by: I-Heart-Hatake-Kakashi**

Sitting on a thick branch overlooking the river running just outside the boundaries of the Nara forest, Tenten looked up at the moonless sky as she dangled her bare feet over the shimmering water. Moments earlier the sky had been a beautiful burnt orange, before exploding into a pastel canvas of purples and pinks. The last-day of summer party had finally seemed to be coming to an end as Tenten heard someone down below calling for her to help clean up.

The bun-haired girl jumped down from her perch, smiling happily as she reminisced on what a wonderful day it had been. Spending the entire day with great friends, good food, lots of laughter and fun, it would have been difficult for the day to have been anything other than wonderful. Though at times the day had seemed to drag on for much longer than a day, Tenten wouldn't have traded it for the world; even if at the end there had been a slight hiccup when Sakura asked the bun-haired girl about her relationship with the stoic shinobi of her team. Tenten had been grateful for the interruption provided by Naruto and Kiba's fight, but that had only postponed the question from her mind as she escaped the battlefield that had become their picnic table, to watch the sun set over the horizon. As she sat mesmerized by the colors of the setting sun, Tenten's mind continuously drifted towards the white-eyed prodigy.

Noticing the missing white orb in the sky only made what she already knew that much more obvious... Neji was everything to her. Without him, Tenten's life seemed as empty as the night's sky did without the moon. Sure there were stars that twinkled and helped light the otherwise pitch black sky, but without the moon... they were little more than glitter on black paper.

"Tenten," the familiar somber voice of her sparring partner jarred the girl from her thoughts as she and Hinata finished packing up the baskets they had brought, while most of the boys busied themselves carrying bags of garbage back into the village.

"Huh?" she turned over her shoulder to face him, "Yeah Neji?"

"May I speak with you?"

"Eh?" the girl cocked her head to the side curiously, wondering about how formal he sounded, but almost immediately shrugged it off as just being her self-consciousness with him at the moment. "Sure, just let me finish helping Hinata carry these back-"

"It's okay Tenten-san," the blue-haired heiress quickly chimed in. It wasn't often Hinata cut someone off, but her sweet smiling face assured the weapons mistress it wasn't the young girl trying to please her, as too often got the Hyuga girl taken advantage of, but rather a sincere desire to help. There was something else in the girl's white eyes that hinted at more, but Tenten dismissed it as she turned back to Neji and with a shrug followed him.

As the two teammates walked back towards the river, Tenten turned over her shoulder, briefly wondering if she should have really left Hinata to do all the work herself, when she noticed the fang-faced boy rushing up to the blushing girl's rescue, flexing his muscles as he picked up all of the baskets and offered to carry them himself.

"Heheh," Tenten giggled softly, bringing her hand up to her mouth as she tried to stifle her laughter, thinking it probably unwise to bring to the other Hyuga's attention that his young cousin had seemingly moved on from the blonde-haired would-be hokage and was currently being chased after by the playful Inuzuka.

"Hn," a grunt from the Hyuga alerted Tenten to the fact that she hadn't been the only one to see the not-so subtle flirting behind them. Neji's glare softened, however, when he turned back to the bun-haired girl and seemed to decide he would wait before dealing with the younger shinobi.

It wasn't that Neji didn't get along with Kiba or something. Far from it. Over the years the two had outgrown their animosity towards one another and had developed an, albeit odd, sort of friendship. They yelled and insulted each other a lot, but there was an unmistakable underlying respect that each man held for the other that somehow made their relationship work. Whether that would translate to Neji accepting his beloved cousin's teammate as her boyfriend only time would tell, but given how overprotective he had become of his young cousins, who were more like little sisters to him, it would certainly seem that Kiba would not have an easy time at courting the timid heiress.

"So... what did you want to talk about?" Tenten asked as the two of them reached the river's edge, where moments earlier the bun-haired girl had been watching the sun go down. Now the sky was dark and moonless. She sighed remembering her earlier thoughts. Did Neji really mean that much to her that she could compare his existence to that of the moon? Tenten inwardly nodded, admitting to herself that he really was that important to her.

"You never answered the question," the Hyuga's voice once more pulled Tenten from her thoughts and back to reality.

Shaking her head clear of the lingering loneliness, the weapons mistress turned and stared at him questioningly. "You asked me something?" Tenten couldn't remember Neji asking her anything, so she wasn't quite sure what question, according to him, she had not answered.

For a moment he said nothing. They stood silently; the only sound was the splashing of the water besides them and the whistle of the chilly night's air, heralding in the fall and winter cold that would soon cover the village. And then, after a moment of Neji thinking his next words over, he cleared his throat and straightened himself before calmly continuing. "Haruno's question," he clarified.

"Sakura?" Tenten furrowed her brow wondering what he could possibly be talking about, when suddenly it dawned on her. "Wait, what? You heard that?" Immediately a bright red blush that would rival even those of Hinata, swept across the bun-haired girl's cheeks and she quickly spun on her heels and turned towards the water, away from Neji.

Looking out into the calm water, Tenten tried to steady her rapidly beating heart. She closed her eyes tightly, attempting to come up with something, anything to say. How he had heard Sakura's question in the first place, the bun-haired girl couldn't even imagine. With all the noise from Kiba and Naruto's fight she had been certain that no one would have heard or even remembered once the table became a battlefield.

Calmly breathing in and out, Tenten opened her eyes once more and stared out into the river again. For a moment she forgot what they were even talking about as the tiny little flashes of fireflies began flickering over the water, shimmering in the darkness of the night. She stared mesmerized at the twinkling lights as they circled around the wripples of the water.

"Ten?" the soft somber voice of her long-time crush once more broke through Tenten's haziness, and she quickly spun back around. She'd felt calmer moments earlier staring into the tranquil waters, but as soon as their eyes met again, all that nervousness from before quickly rushed back to her and everything she'd planned on saying completely vanished from Tenten's mind as she stared helplessly into the Hyuga's moon-like eyes.

"I...it's..." Tenten stumbled, trying to find the words to say as Neji patiently waited for her to reply, taking a step closer as she inched away almost unknowingly. Finally when the silence had been too much for ever her to handle, the bun-haired girl took one more deep breath and then said, "Oh that. That's just Sakura though. I mean Ino too. Well both of them. They're just a couple of busy bodies. Always making things up. It doesn't mean anything really. They used to ask me about Lee before too. As if I'd ever be interested in Lee. Not that there's anything wrong with that. He's a good boy. And he's not bad looking. At least not once you clean him up a little. And he's sweet. Any girl would be lucky... but well it's Lee. He's like a little brother. Plus he's still completely infatuated with Sakura. At least I think he still is-"

"Tenten," Neji again called out to the girl, a small smirk adorned his handsome features as the Hyuga stared calmly at the flustered girl. "You're doing it again," he stated, crossing his arms over his chest, flinching slightly as the coarse fabric of his white shirt rubbed against his sunburnt skin.

She noticed it though. But knowing the Hyuga's pride, Tenten restrained herself from teasing him anymore about it. Plus, she had already done plenty of that earlier. "Doing what?" she asked, feeling a little less self-conscious, and it began to feel more like their normal conversations.

Despite having a massive crush on the guy, which would normally make a girl act pretty much like Hinata had the first few years of her infatuation with Naruto, there was something about Neji that just eased all of her nerves. Sure, Tenten got the occasional butterflies and nervous stammer when he got a little bit too close, or their hands brushed against each other as they reached for the same thing, but over all their silences weren't awkward, and the two of them got along really well. That was probably the reason she loved him so much... Tenten just felt comfortable when she was around Neji.

"You always talk too much when you're nervous," the boy simply stated, letting a small chuckle escape him as he shook his head.

He knew her too well.

"haah!" the bun-haired girl gasped, eyes growing wide as she realized just exactly what that meant. He did know her well. A little too well in fact. And he had just asked her a question. One which Tenten had no intention of answering, especially since she didn't quite know the answer to said question herself. Oh but wait! Neji had just pointed out that she was nervous, and the Hyuga was no idiot. Far from it in fact. Neji was a genius. There was no doubt in Tenten's mind that he must have realized his question was what had made her nervous. And the question was essentially asking what her feelings were towards him. Given her nervousness, it wouldn't take Neji much effort to figure out that she was flustered about the fact that he wanted to know, which meant there was something to know, because if there was nothing to know then she would have just laughed it off and said that she just saw him as a friend and teammate.

Her mind on overdrive, the bun-haired girl again nervously turned away from the white-eyed shinobi and stared into the shivering dark water, illuminated only slightly by the soft glow of the fireflies circling around the river's edge. Oh how she wished they would all just fly away and let the darkness of the night engulf her so she could disappear from the all-seeing Hyuga eyes boring hole into her head and reading her mind. She was a ninja for crying out loud! Deception was part of the job, and yet when it came to Neji... Tenten couldn't hide anything!

"That's part of it," the Hyuga's voice amusedly chuckled behind her again. She didn't need to ask what he meant by part of it though, as Neji calmly walked up behind the kunoichi and placed a hand on her slouched shoulder. "Part of why I like you."

"What?" the girl spun on her heels again; she was doing that a lot. Staring into his eyes, searching for a clue as to what he meant, but found nothing that betrayed his meaning. So again Tenten asked, "What?"

And then he smiled. Neji smiled that impossibly perfect smile of his that was so rarely ever seen, and always had the effect of making her heart melt. Leaning forward as the tender glow of the fireflies began hovering around them, Neji continued to smile sweetly. He took one hand and gently tucked a loose strand of hair that had fallen from one of her buns behind her ear and softly whispered, "I like how you always give it all away with just one look."

His eyes as he said those words, which felt more precious and sincere than any words Tenten had ever heard up until that moment, were filled with so much love and sincerity that the girl quite literally felt the air rush out of her lungs. They told her not only that he liked her, but also that he understood her.

And then without another thought or question, moving almost entirely on instinct and adrenaline, the bun-haired girl wrapped her arms around the Hyuga's neck and pulled him down to her, pressing her lips against his in the most breath-taking, tender, sweetest kiss imaginable. The kiss could not have lasted for more than a few seconds, but to the kunoichi, it felt like the longest, best, most nerve-wrecking few seconds of her life, and she loved every moment of it. When at last the two pulled apart, both with a mirrored expression of disbelief and joy mingled into together, Tenten confidently smiled and said, "Does that answer the question?"

**- THE END -**

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><p><strong>AN** : I'm finished! it took so long. nothing like a 3-month self-imposed Hiatus to start studying again to motivate me to finish this before I disappear again.

Hope you all enjoyed it... even though it's well passed summer now :P


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